Italy2024

 It is time to go home.  Our hotel was within the airport area.  We walked to our terminal and checked in at the KLM desk. Our flight was scheduled to takeoff at 12:45 PM to Amsterdam.  We had a layover of a couple of hours to change planes for our final leg to Atlanta.  We received a notice from KLM, our flight was delayed to 1:25 PM.  No problem, we had time to spare.  We received another notice from KLM, our flight was delayed to 1:45 PM.  At this point we began to be concerned.  Do the math.  When we get to Amsterdam, we have to disembark at one terminal and go to the next terminal.  We also had to go through customs.  Time is of the essence.  Will we make our connection?  We finally took off from Rome around 2:30 PM.  If the Amsterdam flight left on schedule, we would not make the flight.  We began exploring our alternatives to get home.  They were not attractive. When we landed in Amsterdam, we we...

 Today marks our final day in Italy.  We will visit Orvieto.  This is the last item on our planned itinerary.  Linda and I visited Orvieto a number of years ago and we thought the kids would enjoy seeing a medieval city. Like every other place in Italy, the Etruscans were there first.  This ancient city was a major centre of the Etruscan civilization.  Rome annexed Orvieto in the 3rd century BC.  The city is located on top of a plateau, overlooking the surrounding valley.   The elevation is 650' above the valley.  It was considered an impregnable location and it controlled the road from Florence to Rome.  The population in the 13th century was 30,000.  Today it is 20,000.  The city was built on a flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff  (75% volcanic ash and 25% rock).  This is basically two cities, the above ground and the underground. Although the city was considered impregnable, caution was the watchword...

 Today is our last full day in Rome.  On the itinerary for today is to visit the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and attend an Italian cooking class and learn how to make pasta.  A full day awaits us.  I have scheduled transportaion for a pickup at our apartment at 9:00 PM to take us to the airport.  We have rooms at the Airport Hilton for two nights.  Our plans for tomorrow are to take a train to Orvieto, a medieval village about 100 miles north of Rome.  Afterwards we will return to the airport for a return flight on Saturday. The Spanish Steps were first on our list.  The steps were built in 1660.  At the top of the steps was the Trinita dei Monti Church, at the bottom of the steps is the Piazza di Spagna (Spain Plaza). In this plaza is the Fontana della Baraccia. It was designed by Pietro Bernini in 1623, and was part of a Papal project to erect a fountain in every major piazza in Rome. While at the Spanish Plaza, we met a di...